Blue Parkway Sun Fresh shelves sit nearly empty for months; shoppers demand answers from owner

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — KSHB 41 reporter La’Nita Brooks covers stories in Kansas City, Missouri, and stories offering solutions on crime. Share your story idea with La’Nita.

—

The Sun Fresh grocery store on Blue Parkway in Kansas City has empty shelves and shoppers complain it has been this way for months.

The store is owned by the nonprofit Community Builders of Kansas City. No one from the organization was available to comment Thursday when we stopped by their office. Their office is just steps from the store.

Jake Weller

KSHB 41 News Reporter La'Nita Brooks walked through the store Wednesday. She found a few items — a few tomatoes, a limited selection of meat and a shelf of potatoes — but not nearly enough to make a full meal.

Tara Gatus, who recently moved to the area, said the decline has been gradual..

Jake Weller

"The condition of the store has been continuously dwindling," said Gatus. "And the shelves are no longer stocked and so now I'm thinking this store is not going to be as convenient to my new home as I thought it was going to be in the first place."

Gatus said the uncertainty starts before customers even walk in.

"Now you pull up and you have to guess, 'Is it even open?"' she said. "You know the parking lot is empty, you don't see people coming in and out."

Jake Weller

Gatus said the store no longer functions as a real grocery option for the neighborhood and she does the majority of her shopping in other communities.

"You don't look at this as a place you can grocery shop anymore," she said. "Its like you try to come, pick up one to two items and hope they got it."

Shopper Prenell said the shelves speak for themselves and many potential customers don't make it past the front door.

Jake Weller

"People come in here, after they walk in, the shelves so empty they just turn around and they walk out," he said. "What they have in there is not worth buying."

Pernell said the store's struggles are forcing residents to travel far outside the neighborhood for basic groceries.

"I got to go way to Walmart, which is way on 40 Highway or 350 Highway," he said. "We right here in the community," he said. "Can we keep some of our money here."

Nicole Williams, another customer, said she has been told the same thing for months. Williams takes care of her elderly mother and needs the convenience of a neighborhood market.

Jake Weller

"This has been going on for months," said Williams. "We've been told that they're waiting on trucks. It doesn't take six to eight months for a truck to come and fill a store."

Williams said the quality of what is available also is a concern.

"Milk maybe, a pop," she said. "No meat, because maybe the meat is expired, and they still have it on the shelves. It's pretty sad."

Jake Weller

Williams said she still comes to the store — but not just for groceries.

"I come here to support the employees," she said. "They have to pay their bills. It's a sad situation. Again, it's in a Black neighborhood. But at the end of the day, we have to think about the people who work here."

Williams said the community has been patient — but patience is running out.

"You have a community, you have a neighborhood that's right behind you that's here to help you. But how can you help us if you're not here to help yourselves?"

We also reached out to the office of Kansas City, Mo., Mayor Quinton Lucas.

They sent KSHB 41 a statement on the store:

"The City of Kansas City has no ownership, financial, or operational involvement with the Sun Fresh Market on Blue Parkway. As a privately owned and operated business, the City has no information regarding the store's current status or any plans for its closure or sale. Questions about the store's future should be directed to its ownership."

Shoppers say the neighborhood needs the store to survive and not close.

"Help the store here," said Prenell. "We need this store. We don't need to shut down. It needs some help."

—

This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.

—